Chapter 170: The Tower’s Rampage (2)

The Tower had always been strictly separate from reality.

What happened in the Tower stayed in the Tower, never connected to the real world.

That was why, even after the Tower appeared, people judged it a blessing for humanity—more for the rewards it offered than for its threats.

But now, that perception changed for the first time.

The Tower’s rampage.

An anomaly that had never occurred before was unfolding.

Of course, the root cause was Nepas destroying the First Floor.

And the aftershocks were bringing about a catastrophe beyond anyone’s expectations.

—Fwoosh!

It blazed.

Fires could break out anytime, anywhere, but this situation was vastly different.

In the city center.

Where a forest of skyscrapers stood, fierce flames shot upward.

And.

“Boom, crack!”

Roars and explosions rang out one after another.

“Rumble”

Massive buildings crumbled.

“Aaaagh!”

“Kyaaaagh!”

People screamed and fled.

A sight like the end of the world, like the apocalypse was upon them.

And if that scene was unfolding in the most powerful nation on Earth, the Republic of Korea?

If it was in Seoul, the capital of South Korea?

Who on earth could turn the Seoul that Kim Si-won was protecting into this?

The answer was—

“Keeek!”

“Kyaaak!”

Green skin.

Pointed ears.

Height under one meter.

They were goblins, the same ones seen in the First Floor trials.

Goblins were recognized as the lowest-ranked monsters, not even threatening to newly awakened individuals.

But the Martial Power of the goblins that burst out of the Dimensional Rift during the Tower’s rampage far exceeded what humanity had ever imagined.

—Whoosh!

A crude wooden club split the air.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But the one facing that club was an Awakener with the Trait of Iron Body.

A body tough enough to deflect even swords, let alone a crude wooden club.

He naturally disregarded the club and counterattacked.

—Thump!

The wooden club didn’t break.

What broke was—

“Keugh!”

—the Awakener who boasted an Iron Body, instead.

The immense impact necrotized his flesh and shattered his bones.

His neck dangled limply.

He let out a death rattle and died instantly.

“G-God, no!”

“That’s not the goblin I know!”

“Too… too strong!”

The forces deployed to stop this crisis.

They were the 5-minute standby squad, ready to mobilize anytime under the World Awakener Association’s orders—but they couldn’t stop the goblins.

Elite Awakeners, those who had conquered at least Floor 30 and above, were being ravaged by goblins from the mere First Floor.

Why?

The goblins that appeared on Earth due to the Tower’s rampage were on a completely different level from ordinary goblins.

Fireball.

Not only did they use magic, unlike normal goblins—

Body Reinforcement.

—they also used Traits like humanity to draw out power beyond their limits.

In every aspect—body, magic, Traits—the goblins were overwhelming.

That was why Seoul, the capital of a nation boasting the world’s strongest military power, had no choice but to suffer enormous damage.

***

Naturally, because of that chaos—

—Step.

—at least until he appeared.

“Haah… haah…”

Seo-jun gasped for breath.

I watched him silently.

‘…Still a long way to go.’

Since meeting that kid, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I had focused my time on nurturing the talent named Lee Seo-jun.

What I’d learned from watching him so far:

He certainly had talent.

But he needed considerable time for that talent to bloom.

That was obvious even now.

After learning about the chaos here, I’d hurriedly moved here with Lee Seo-jun.

Even though I hadn’t gone very fast, he was already winded and panting, showing he still had a long way to go.

Of course.

“Stop whining.”

There was no time to catch his breath.

“Aaaagh!”

“Kyaaagh!”

The area was filled with people’s screams.

Awakeners and Association personnel were struggling to save the citizens, but they were only delaying the inevitable.

“Show me your skill.”

So I ordered him to demonstrate.

“…Understood.”

The kid, who had already steadied his breathing, drew the sword at his waist.

Though he wasn’t used to moving quickly, his swordsmanship was different.

His muscles, his entire body, were focused on wielding the sword.

—Swish!

And finally, a slash unfolded.

It was the flawless slash he had shown before.

But this time was different.

—Shiiing!

A goblin fell.

“…Ah!”

The Awakener who had been in danger gasped in admiration as he spotted us.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Thud, slump!”

They fell.

All around, the bodies of goblins that had threatened Awakeners and citizens were split apart.

It looked like a single swing, but within it lay infinity.

The flawless slash.

That slash, surpassing mere numbers, instantly cleaved through hundreds of goblins in the vicinity.

“I-It’s the Association President!”

“The President himself came!”

“We’re saved!”

The Awakeners who saw the goblin horde fall in an instant.

I didn’t remember each one, but they were Association-affiliated Awakeners.

So they cheered at my and Seo-jun’s appearance, convinced we could end this crisis.

But.

“…!”

Sensing an aura, I narrowed my eyes and stared at one spot.

“Crack, crackle!”

As if glass were fracturing, the boundary of dimensions was breaking down.

It was probably the boundary connecting the Tower and reality.

“Everyone…”

I opened my mouth after confirming it.

“…run.”

That was the best I could do in this situation.

“What…?”

“Let us help you too, President…”

“No.”

I dismissed their offers of help.

“With your skill, you’d be no help. So safely evacuate the citizens.”

“But…”

Before they could continue.

“Snap!”

I snapped my fingers.

At that moment.

—Fwoosh!

Everyone nearby was moved to a distant space by my power to manipulate space.

[Your mission is to safely evacuate the citizens.]

I saw it.

What was about to happen here.

And in that hopeless situation, only I and Lee Seo-jun could be of any help.

If the Awakeners remained here, they would be a hindrance, not a help.

So I used a powerful Trait that consumed my lifespan to hastily evacuate them.

Fortunately, they seemed to realize the situation was abnormal, as they were urgently moving the citizens far away from here.

The moment I confirmed that through my detection—

“KRRAAASH!”

The cracks expanded into a rupture.

One place?

No, dimensional rifts occurred in dozens, hundreds of places.

The boundary between the Tower and reality collapsed.

“Rumble”

Goblins began pouring out from there.

The numbers were incomparable to what had been coming from just one place.

Hundreds, no, thousands, even tens of thousands.

The goblin horde that completely took over the city center.

[Kireek!]

[Eeek!]

They didn’t continue attacking us.

Instead, they scattered in all directions and started chasing the Awakeners and citizens who had fled moments ago.

‘There’s a commander!’

Goblins weren’t highly intelligent.

Yet they ignored the enemy right in front of them—us—and chased the weaker ones who had run away?

That clearly proved there was an individual commanding them.

But I couldn’t see anything immediately.

In the blink of an eye, the goblins had scattered everywhere and were moving to kill the fleeing citizens.

“Wh-What?!”

Lee Seo-jun panicked.

It was only natural.

His attack range wasn’t wide enough yet.

It was impossible to manifest killing intent and will against all those goblins scattering in every direction.

“Watch carefully.”

But even if it was impossible for him, it was possible for me.

As the tens of thousands of goblins rapidly scattered in all directions—

—Grip.

I put strength into the hand holding my sword.

That sword was nothing special—not a Knight Sword, not an artifact, not a legendary blade.

Just an ordinary Iron Sword.

The kind you could get by ordering from a blacksmith, a plain iron sword.

Until recently, I believed the sword determined the power of the strike.

I thought the sword was the most important tool and means for executing swordsmanship.

But after attaining enlightenment, I had no choice but to change that thinking.

“The state of the sword doesn’t matter.”

That was why I hadn’t given Seo-jun anything more than a wooden sword.

Because he could be consumed by the sword’s power.

Like I once was.

So to avoid repeating the same mistake, I trained him not to rely on the sword, to hone his own sword entirely.

Thanks to that, Seo-jun grew quickly.

Even if he was still incomplete.

That was why I needed to show him once.

What kind of spectacle someone who had reached the end of the path he must walk could create.

“What matters is imbuing the sword with the countless Karma you’ve accumulated. Executing that motion perfectly.”

Completion of Mind-Body-Sword.

And if you could infuse that into the sword, you could create unimaginable swordsmanship, a sight like a miracle.

And now, that miracle was unfolding in my hand.

“Refinement of Mind-Body-Sword. Unleash the accumulated Karma in an instant.”

I poured the Karma I had built up into the sword.

—Zzzzzing!

The iron sword vibrated violently.

It had no choice.

Over a thousand years of enlightenment, countless realizations—the true essence was being imbued.

Could an iron sword withstand that?

“Even if it’s a rusted iron sword, even a twig lying on the roadside—reach the maturity to imbue it.”

Of course, it was difficult.

Iron has a fixed durability.

It might seem impossible to completely contain the Karma I had built up beyond that limit.

That was why control was necessary.

I contained the immense Karma, but controlled it so it wouldn’t overflow or destroy.

Like that.

Zzzzzing!

The sword accepted my will.

The Karma imbued into the iron sword far surpassed the durability of the metal, but it settled safely under my control.

“Release the united Mind-Body-Sword.”

I transformed the Mind-Body-Sword contained in the blade, that Karma, into a single slash.

Flawless?

Climax?

No.

This was just a slash.

The slash had no other meaning.

I cut the target I wanted.

Creating a destiny that would cut through anything.

That was what I wanted, and that was my will.

Swish!

I simply slashed the sword vertically.

But the next moment.

“…!”

The goblins that had been shrieking and displaying their brutality just moments before stopped moving.

No, time stopped.

No, the world stopped.

All because of one thing—

The slash I had lightly swung.

Then, after a brief moment.

“Thud!”

One goblin fell.

And then.

—Roll

Its severed head rolled across the ground.

The same happened to the rest.

Tens of thousands of goblins.

Those powerful monsters that had toyed with the Awakeners all lost their heads and their lives.

“Wow…”

Seo-jun was speechless with awe.

It was only natural.

Because in a single strike.

In a mere instant, I had eliminated a goblin army numbering in the tens of thousands.

“Don’t set limits. There is no limit to the range of my attack—there is nothing I cannot cut.”

Limitless boundlessness.

The fearsome spectacle that the boundlessness of will could create.

But it was too early to rejoice.

“KABOOOOM!”

With an explosion incomparable to anything before—

“BOOM!”

A colossal being appeared on the scene.

It was…

[Are you… the guardian of Earth?]

A goblin that could convey its will.

A Goblin Lord, much larger than ordinary goblins.